IT Business Operations & Enablement Lead

Zendesk•Austin, TX

3d•$139,000 - $209,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Lead CIO operations and organizational enablement, serving as a high-trust executive partner to the VP, CIO Strategy, Operations & Architecture. The role brings structure to CIO priorities and operating rhythms, connects decisions across the CIO Staff, and turns strategy and change into coordinated execution plans, communications, and action across the organization. It combines executive operations, strategy execution, change management, and communications leadership, using AI and automation responsibly to improve quality, speed, coordination, and reach. The position supports the CIO and CIO leadership team across functions, geographies, and levels. It strengthens operating discipline and follow-through while enabling leaders to communicate consistently and teams to understand what is changing, why it matters, and what to do next. Austin, TX is the preferred location. The role works across global time zones, requires flexibility for occasional early or late meetings, and involves an estimated 10–15% travel to US and worldwide locations. The working model is hybrid, with in-person collaboration and flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. The US annualized base salary range is $139,000–$209,000. The position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives; the stated salary range reflects base salary only.

Requirements

Strong executive presence, discretion, judgment, and ability to build trust across levels, functions, and geographies.
Experience with executive meeting cadence, agenda and pre-read development, decision and action tracking, and complex calendar or event coordination.
Practical change management experience, including impact assessment, stakeholder engagement, readiness, adoption, and feedback measurement.
Excellent organization and project coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities while maintaining accuracy and dependable follow-through.
Demonstrated fluency with AI tools and automation, including the ability to design useful workflows and validate outputs responsibly.
Comfort working with ambiguity, shifting priorities, sensitive topics, and a global, distributed workforce.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience in communications, business, organizational change, or a related field.
English communication skills at a native or equivalent professional level.
Significant experience in executive communications, strategic communications, change communications, or a related discipline.
Demonstrated ability to write and edit clear, concise, high-quality executive communications in English at a native or equivalent professional level, including nuanced, audience-sensitive material.
Experience advising senior leaders and translating strategy, technical subjects, and organizational change into actionable messages.
Flexibility for occasional early or late meetings across global time zones.
Eligibility and willingness to travel to US and worldwide locations, estimated at 10–15%.

Nice To Haves

Spanish language skills.
Experience supporting senior executives in a complex technology organization is strongly preferred.
Austin, TX is the preferred location.

Responsibilities

Act as a trusted delegate and thought partner to the VP, CIO Strategy, Operations & Architecture, translating priorities into decisions, plans, and follow-through across the CIO organization.
Prepare CIO leaders for key engagements with concise briefs, decision points, stakeholder context, meeting objectives, and follow-up actions.
Orchestrate executive operating rhythms, including CIO staff and leadership meetings, all-hands, AMAs, quarterly business reviews, offsites, and other leadership forums.
Develop agendas with clear outcomes; coordinate pre-reads; capture decisions, owners, and due dates; and track follow-through without unnecessary process.
Identify cross-functional dependencies, unresolved decisions, and emerging risks, and bring forward concise options and recommendations.
Partner with executive assistants and operations leads to coordinate schedules, materials, logistics, and handoffs for high-priority engagements.
Handle sensitive information discreetly and use sound judgment about what to escalate, share, or resolve independently.
Maintain organized executive materials, stakeholder context, decision records, and action tracking; coordinate consistent support across the CIO organization.
Own the CIO-wide communications strategy, calendar, narrative, and editorial standards, connecting messages to company direction, CIO priorities, business outcomes, and customer impact.
Advise the VP and CIO leadership team on audience, message, timing, channel, sequencing, and risks for sensitive or high-impact communications.
Draft, edit, and coordinate executive-ready communications, including leadership messages, all-hands content, announcements, FAQs, talking points, presentations, pre-reads, and follow-ups.
Translate complex technical, operational, workforce, and portfolio topics into clear, accurate messages for technical and nontechnical audiences.
Coordinate communications across CIO functions so teams receive timely, consistent information with clear owners and actions.
Maintain a forward-looking communications calendar and intake process; surface collisions, gaps, dependencies, and opportunities to reinforce key messages.
Gather feedback and engagement signals, assess whether communications are understood, and adjust content and channels based on evidence.
Lead change planning for CIO-wide and cross-functional initiatives, including stakeholder mapping, impact and readiness assessments, change narratives, engagement plans, and adoption measures.
Connect communications to practical enablement by explaining what is changing, who is affected, when it happens, where to get help, and what action is expected.
Coach leaders and change owners on sponsorship, sequencing, team conversations, and handling questions or resistance.
Track change dependencies, risks, readiness, adoption, and feedback across concurrent initiatives and recommend timely course corrections.
Coordinate with People & Places, Finance, business partners, and other functions when changes cross organizational boundaries.
Use approved AI tools to accelerate research, synthesis, drafting, meeting preparation, action tracking, translation support, and tailored content development while preserving human judgment and accountability.
Build repeatable AI-assisted workflows to coordinate communications, surface dependencies, summarize feedback, and maintain reliable follow-through across CIO.
Verify AI-generated facts, tone, confidentiality, and audience fit; protect sensitive information and follow company policies and data-handling requirements.
Identify opportunities to reduce manual administrative work through automation and measure improvements in quality, cycle time, reach, or capacity.
Partner with CIO program sponsors, program managers, and functional leaders to shape and deliver communications for priority initiatives from early planning through launch and sustained adoption.
Join program teams at key points to clarify intended outcomes, affected audiences, required decisions or behaviors, and how communications can remove execution barriers.
Consult on or develop audience-specific plans and materials, such as stakeholder maps, leader talking points, team updates, FAQs, milestones, launch messages, and feedback channels, coordinated with program plans and delivery cadence.
Coordinate communications across related workstreams so dependencies, sequencing, ownership, and calls to action are clear and consistent.
Monitor engagement, understanding, readiness, and adoption signals with program teams; use feedback and delivery data to adjust communications and help keep work on track.